Nostalgia #1

I am, as I often proclaim, a victim of nostalgia. I tend to place great sentimental value on anything and everything, but childhood items in particular. One of my favorite things to think back on and be nostalgic about is my old Swatch phone. When I was in 8th grade my best friend, Plemen, got one and we pretty much thought that it was the greatest invention known to pre-teens. It was called the "Twin Phone" and was equipped with dual receivers. After dialing, you could pick up the base and turn it over and there was another receiver so you and your BFF could talk to your other BFF on the phone at the same time.
In all its glory:

Shortly after Plemen procured her Swatch phone, I convinced my mother to haul my happy ass over to Service Merchandise where I was able to whip out all of my allowances that I had been hoarding and purchase one of my very own. I could hardly contain myself as I watched my new source of joy come down that conveyor belt. (Any and all theories on why Service Merchandise was sooo shady are welcome.)
Our phones looked just like the above picture except that Plemen's was dark blue and mine was dark green. And now that we both had them if the opportunity ever arose 4 of us hideous, awkward, acne-ridden freaks could all chat at the same time. Which you better believe we did whenever we got the chance. There was also a handy mute button, not readily available in those days, so that you could talk shit about your friend who was on the other line to your BFF in the room without her hearing as she was still babbling on the other end.
Unfortunately, little did we know that our great and wonderful fun with the Swatch Twin Phone was going to be fairly short-lived. Turns out they didn't really work so well after all, eventually both mine and Plemen's lives were turned into a living hell due to our previously beloved telephones! I know, it sounds dramatic now but just listen and imagine how infuriated you would be. And then imagine being a psychotic 13 year old girl on top of that. First, the saved phone numbers stopped dialing, then all of the number buttons stopped working, sometimes one of the receivers wouldn't work, sometimes the damn thing wouldn't even get a dial tone. What's worse than being 13 and trying to call your friend to talk you down from some hormonal crisis and your gd personal telephone not working?! Sometimes the Swatch phone would have a good day and things would come back to life and maybe some buttons would work again. But, really, neither of them were long for this world after that. Nothing can be expected to last long after being hurled against the wall in a fit of fury SO MANY TIMES, least of all a Swatch Twin Phone.
I hung onto the dead Swatch phone a long time though, even though it didn't work at all by that point I had it stashed in my closet for years and years. Apparently, I finally threw it away because I don't have it anymore. I'm sure I ditched it when I was approached with the idea of having to pack and move it somewhere else. The only time I ever throw anything away is when I am faced with packing all of my possessions and then hauling them somewhere new. That's the only time my pack rat nature becomes an issue. All other times I completely love that I am a total pack rat. Sad that my first phone (uh, SWATCH TWIN PHONE at that!) had to be lost to a move. Le sigh.

* This post is dedicated to Jenny Plemen, with whom I spent many longs hours talking on my Swatch Phone. In the past couple years I have reeeeally wanted to purchase her another one even though I know it would piss her off so much due to the immense rage that the thing caused her in 1994.